Bumper



on, 23, 1928. v 1,688,432 C. E. PRYOR BUMPER Filed June 24, 1925 1rearwardlyand-respectively'towardone an- Patented Oct. 23 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF ICE.

, CLARENCE nrRYoR, or ELIZABETH, NEw JERsEY;

BUMPER.

'Applicatlon filed June 24, 1925. Serial No. 39,223.

This invention relates to bumpers; v

Anobject of the invention is to provide a bumper, particularly forautomobiles, com.- prising a plurality of bumper bars assembled toafford enhanced rigidity as compared with the rigidity of the individualbumper bars,

and' arranged to preclude noise'by vibration.

A'further object ofthe invention is to provide an assembly of:pluralityof bumper bars which may be formed of readily made and relativelydightweight parts and tied to one another in a simple and effective manner.

Pursuant to the more preferred forms of my invention, the bumpercomprises-three bumper bars, arranged in spaced relation one above theother, the uppermost and lower bars.

being in substantially vertical alignment and secured to one another bymeans'of a central connecting. member and a pair of outwardconnectingmembers, the third or innermost bar extendingfrom and .atopposing sides of the central connecting member toward the spring hornsor equivalent .of the automobile for attachment thereto and therebysupport-' ing the bumper as a whole, theopposite end portions of thethird or central'bumper bar being secured to theipair of outwardconnecting members. The outward ends of the uppermost and lowermostbumper barsv at each sideof the bumper are curvedly bent other andlocked in: position by the pair of outward connecting..members orotherwise rigidly anchored.

Further features and objects of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from the following detail description and'the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig.1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of mybumper, shown attached to the spring horns of an automobile forsupportthereof;

Fig. 2 is afront elevation of my bumper of F ig.,2, on .a greatlyenlarged scale; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on line 4-4 I of ;Fig. 2, onsubstantially the same scale as Fig.3. 1 Referring to the drawings, thespring horns of any approved form of an automobile or like vehicle areindicated at 10, 11. It will be understoodthat'any other approved formof support for my bumper may be employed. In the form of my invention asillustrated in the drawings, my bumpercomprises the uppermost bumper bar12, the lowermost bumper bar 13 and the central bumper bar 14, assembledand mounted as more particularly described hereinafter. 12, 13, 14, arepreferably formed of a high "Such bumperbars, I

grade of steel, such as manganese steel-or of other forms of'steel oras'may be preferred. Substantially I arrange the central connectingmember 15, seeFigs. 2 and 3, preferably in the form of a clip comprisingthe vertically front body portion 16,the upper end flange portion 17,the lower flange portion18 and the rear body portion 19, the end 20 ofwhich last-named portion 19 may terminate in close proximity to theupper end flange portion 17 The connecting member or clip 15 is securedequivalent material to the bumper bars 12, 13, 14by meansof'the bolts21,22 passing through suitable openings 23, 24' respectively in the frontbody portion 16 and similarly respectively through the openings 25,26in' the rear body portion 19. The bolts 21, 22 are tightened by means oftheir respective nuts 27, 28.- Such bolts 21, 22 may be round or, squareor of other contour of cross-section as may be desired, and preferablyof a cross-section substantially equal to the clearance 29 between theuppermost bumper bar12 and the central bumper bar 14 and the clearance30 between the central bumper bar 14 and the lowermost bumper barl3. r

For the purpose/ofattaining increased rigidity of connection betweentheclip 15 and the respective'bumper bars 12, 13, 14, each bumperbar, seeFig.3, as the uppermost at the center of my bumper, I

extending,

bumperbar12, is subjected to impact to indent a substantially circulardepression 31 on Y the-front face of the bumper bar12 and asubstantially corresponding convex protuberance 32 on the rear facetheerof. portion16 of the clip 15 is' corres ondingly depressedcircularly on its outer ace-as indicated' at 33, and correspondinglyprojected he body on its inner face asindicatedfat 34, whichprotuberance 34 is in substantial register with v the concave indent 31'of the bumper 12. Similarly, the rear body portion 19 of the'clip 15 isdepressed concavely at 35 on its front face insubstantial register withthe rear convex protuberance 32 of'the bumper bar 12 r and also givingrise to'the rear convex protuberance 36 on the rear bodyportion 19 ofthe'clip'15. I x

In a similar manner, the central bumper bar 1 1 and the lowermost bumperbar 13 are respectively provided with a substantially circular. indentindicated at 31 on the front face and a similar protuberance 3 on therear face, respectively in substantial register with the convexprotuberance 3 1 on the inner face of the body portion 16 of the clipand the substantially circular concave depression of the rear bodyportion 19 of the clip '15.

Thecentral bumper bar 14 extends on the opposing sides of thecentralclip 15 toward the spring hornslO, 11 of the automobile, or

' I equivalent support, to be respectively secured 410, see also Fig. 4,corresponds to the thereto by means of a bracket 36, see Fig. a, whichpreferably comprises the upwardly open slot member 37 for snuglyreceiving the centralbumper bar 1 1. The bolt 38 passes throughsuitableopenings in the front and rear parts of the slot member 3'? such boltpreferably engages the upper edge of the central the bumper barli withinthe slot and to prevent vibration. The body of each bracket 36 issecured to its" support such as the spring horn 11, see Fig. 4, by meansof the bolts 39v or rivets or the like. 1

Adjacent the outer ends of the bumper bars 12, 13, 1 1, I provideoutward clips for anchoring the ends of the bumper bars and to effectmutual stiffening relation between the bumper bars and the respectiveoutward clips. Referring to Fig. 2, the left-hand outward clip centralclip15, and preferably having indentsat 33, and protuberancescorresponding to the aforesaid p'rotuberances 3 1, 34 and similarindentations and protuberances are provided on the front and rear facesof the bumper bars 12, 13, 1 1, corresponding to the aforesaid centralindentations and protuberances.

The bolts 41, 42 of the left-hand outward clip 410 correspond to thebolts 21, 22 of the central clip 15. i r

To attain the enhancedrigidity combined with su nerior resiliency .atthe outward ends of the, umper bars, I provide a rearward bend 13 of theuppermost bumper bar 12 and -2 preferably downwardly toward thelowermost bar 13. The rearward bend 13 is suitablyanchoredto the bumperstructure, as by locating its extreme end 1 1, seeFig. 1, under the clip10, which is formed with a wider slot as compared 'with the central clip15. In a similar manner, the end of the lowermost ibumper 13 is bentrearwardl'y and preferably upwardly and anchored at its extreme end bythe clip 40 in contact with the uppermost bar12.

In a like manner, the left-hand clip 10, see

7 Figs. 1 and 2, serves to secure, the rear ends of the bumper bars andtoattain rigidity and resiliency of the curved ends of the uppermost andlowermost bumper bars, andlike reference numbers designate like parts.

bumper bar 1 1, to additionally retain NVhereas I have described myinventionbylreference to. specific forms thereof, it willbeunderstoodthat many-ehangesancl modifica-i tions may be made without departingfrom the spiritof the invention. I claim; 1 '1. A bumper comprising aplurality of substantially vertically aligned bumper bars,

the ends of said bumper'bars being rearwardly bent and means forsecuring the bent ends respectively of the lowermost bar to abodyportion of the uppermost bar and the bent ends of the uppermost bar to abody portion ofthe lowermost bar.

" 2. A bumper comprising a pair of substantially vertically alignedbumper bars, the 0pposite ends of said bumper barsbeingrespectivelyrearwardlybent, means for'securmg the bent ends respectively ofsaid'lowermost bar to a body portion of said uppermostrbar, and meansfor securingthe bent ends respectively of said uppermost bar to a bodyportion of said lowermost bar; f

3. A bumper comprising a pair of substantially vertically aligned bumperbars, the'opposite ends of said bumper bars being respectivelyrearwardly bent, common means for securing the'bent end atone end ofsaid lowermost bar to a body portion of said uppermost bar and forsecuring the bent end at said one end of said uppermost bar to a-bodyportion of said lowermost" bar, and common means of said lowermost barto a body portion of said uppermost bar and for securing the bent endatsaid opposite end of said uppermost bar. to a body portionofsaidlowermostbar.

4. A bumper comprisinga pair of substantially vertically alignedbumperbars, the op posite ends of said bumper bars being respectivelyrearward-1y bent, means forsecuring the bent ends respectively of said.lowermost bar to a body portion of said uppermo'st bar, 1

means for securing the bent ends respectively of said uppermost bar to'abody portion of saidlowermost bar, a third, .bardisposed between saidpair of bumper bars, and: bracket means for securing said third bar tosaid uppermost bar and said lowermost bar and therei whole; y V

5. A bumper comprising a pair of substanby position and support saidbumper as a tially verticailyaligned bumper bars, the opbent end at saidopposite end of said upperposite ends of said bumper bars beingrespecmost bar to a body portion of said lowermost 1 tively rearwardlybent common means for bar, a third bar disposed between and consecuringthe bent end at one end of said lowernected to said pair of'bumper bars,and brack- 15 5 most bar to. a body portion of said upperet means forsecuring said third bar to said most bar and for securing the bent endat said uppermost bar and said lowermost bar and one end of saiduppermost bar to a body porthereby position and support said bumper as ation of said lowermost bar common means whole. 1 r p I for securing thebent end at the opposite end In testimony whereof I have si ned this 2010 of said lowermost bar to a body portion of specifioationthis 2nd dayof December, 1924.

said uppermost bar and for securing the I CLARENCE E. PRYOR.

